In July of 1956, Virginia Tech became the first university in the United States to install a Nuclear Reactor Simulator. The simulator was installed as part of an atomic energy laboratory in Davidson Hall which was home to the Department of Physics at that time.
![The TECHGRAM Vol. XXXIII, No. 7 JANUARY 1, 1956 Tech First University To Get Nuclear Reactor Simulator Device Along With Accelerator Being Built By Staff Will Make One Of Best Instructional Atomic Labs In Country Virginia Tech is the first college or university in the country to have a nuclear reactor simulator. An order has been placed, John W. Whittemore, dean of engineering and architecture, announced Dec. 14. The reactor simulator that will be installed here is similar to the one which the United States exhibited at the Geneva Conference. Leeds and Northrup Co. of Philadelphia has been contracted to build the installation. That company has advised officials here that Virginia Tech will be the first college or university in the country to have such a facility. Delivery is scheduled for spring. It will be placed into immediate operation, Dr. Thomas M. Hahn, Jr., head of the physics department, explained. This simulator with the nuclear accelerator and other equipment that is presently available from outside sources will make the atomic energy laboratory at Virginia Tech one of the most complete of any college in the country, Dean Whittemore pointed out. It will be possible through this equipment and staff at Virginia Tech not only to give the best training for personnel in this field, but also to do many kinds of research for all industries interested in the use of atomic energy. Many of the staff members of the science and engineering departments have had training and experience at atomic energy installations and have made significant contributions in this field. The nuclear reactor simulator is the answer to the question of how nuclear reactor theory and operation can be taught when costly reactors are not readily available. The device consists of a regular reactor control console, a model reactor, and an electronic analog computer. The electronic computer causes the model reactor to respond just as would an actual thermal nuclear reactor, and by suit- able adjustments an operator can obtain experience necessary for operating the various types of nuclear reactors. Despite its tremendous value as an educational installation, the reactor simulator is priced at a fraction of the cost of a reactor, and does not require the special building and large operating budget necessary for a nuclear reactor. The new graduate degree in nuclear engineering physics is in response to suggestions from industry and was set up after much study. Virginia Tech for several years has been offering course work in the nuclear field, and quite extensive research programs have been administered by the Virginia Engineering Experiment Station of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Virginia industries are contributing heavily to the program, and college officials hope that payment for the reac- tor simulator can also be made without the use of state funds. Dean Whittemore reports that the new program, which is dedicated to the specific end of training and research in the nuclear field, is a joint engineering and physics effort. The program is under the direction of Dr. Hahn and will utilize the combined equipment and staff resources of several engineering and science departments. Graduates in either engineering or science are eligible for study toward the new graduate degree. Dr. Hahn states that the plans for the program are in line with the general Atomic Energy Commission policy of encouraging university training of nuclear scientists. Plans are underway for Virginia Tech to be host to a two-day Oak Ridge Regional Symposium to be held during the coming summer in cooperation with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. Virginia Tech will also offer at that time a two-week short course, featuring lecturers from industry prominent in the atomic energy field. To start up the reactor simulator, Dr. Hahn explained, a trainee operates the same sort of controls as he would if he were at an atomic energy installation. As the rods of the reactor begin rising in the scale-model of the core, recording instruments draw continuous records of the reactor operating conditions. When the reactor-model reaches the critical operating range, this is recorded on the simulator. Then the trainee carries the reactor up to the desired level. As the pile rods rise still higher, the indicating instruments keep the trainee posted on operating conditions. Once the reactor-model is up to the desired power level, servomechanical controls take over. If the trainee fails to judge correctly the various factors and reactor operation threatens to go beyond safe limits, the recording instruments automatically drop the rods. Or, if the student realizes that reactor operation is threatening to get out of hand, he can hit an emergency button on the console with the same results. Also to be used for training in the new nuclear engineering physics program, as well as basic nuclear research, is the two million volt nuclear accelerator now nearing completion at Virginia Tech. This accelerator, although it will be valued at approximately $100,000, has cost the State of Virginia nothing. Funds and materials have been contributed through the Virginia Tech Educational Foundation and Virginia Engineering Experiment Station by Virginia industries interested in the nuclear program. The accelerator is being built by staff members and graduate students working under the supervision of Dr. Hahn, and Dr. Andrew Robeson '50, associate professor of physics. Graduate students working on the machine include John Rogers, of Front Royal, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who is doing a master's thesis on features of the machine; David Oliver, of Washington, a graduate of VPI, and George Bell, of Berea, Ky., a graduate of Berea College. The Virginia Tech nuclear accelerator, or atom-smasher, will be used to bombard various materials of interest in the atomic energy field. An editorial commending Virginia Tech on its progressive action appeared in the Dec. 15 "Roanoke Times."](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/19560101_Techgram_TechFirstUniversityToGetNuclearReactorSimulator.png?resize=712%2C697&ssl=1)
The laboratory also included a two-million-volt nuclear accelerator “built by staff members and graduate students,” and the “first university-owned graphite-moderated exponential reactor”, a sub-critical reactor made possible after the Atomic Energy Commission (now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) approved Virginia Tech to receive “a neutron source and 2,500 pounds of natural uranium metal”.
![THE TECHGRAM Vol. XXXIII, No. 19 JULY 1, 1956 Tech Gets Uranium For Reactor A neutron source and 2,500 pounds of natural uranium metal, to be used in connection with expanding instruction in nuclear engineering, have been approved for Virginia Tech, the Atomic Energy Commission announced in Washington June 21. The uranium will be used by Virginia Tech in the construction of the first university-owned graphite-moderated exponential reactor. Commenting on the AEC's action, Dr. T. M. Hahn, Jr., head of the physics department, said, "When completed, the new exponential reactor, along with the 2,000,000-volt nuclear accelerator, nuclear reactor simulator, and associated nuclear equipment, will give Virginia Tech nuclear facilities valued at nearly a half million dollars." He pointed out that all of these facilities have been acquired at a very little cost to Virginia taxpayers. Dr. Hahn predicted that the new sub-critical reactor made possible by the AEC will be completed and in operation by the end of the summer and will "provide an invaluable training and research facility for Virginia Tech's graduate nuclear engineering physics program." This early completion date is possible because college technicians have been at work for two months machining the 32,000 pounds of reactor graphite to be used in this new facility. The exponential pile will therefore be nearing completion and will be a tour feature when Virginia Tech is host to the Eighth Oak Ridge Regional Symposium on Atomic Energy and Science in its first Virginia appearance July 30-31. As a result of the AEC loan, Virginia Tech has acquired the new nuclear facility at minimum cost to the state. The new sub-critical reactor that will be constructed requires no unusual safety controls, expensive shielding or heat removal equipment, and can be maintained on a negligible operational budget as compared to that required for a critical reactor. "Yet such a sub-critical assembly," says Dr. Hahn, "provides a valuable laboratory training device." The sub-critical assembly consists of an arrangement of uranium rods in a graphite moderator. When a neutron source is introduced, a high neutron flux is obtained from nuclear fissions in the arrangement but the reaction can not be sustained without the presence of the main neutron source. The AEC announcement said, "Under a recent amendment to the Commission's assistance policy, neutron sources composed of plutonium and beryllium are now available for licensing to the users of sub-critical assemblies. This type of source is considered superior in many ways to those previously available." Concluded the AEC, "The Commission for some time has been supplying certain materials for these assemblies without a use charge being made, subject to the availability of the materials and to a determination that such loans will result in a net advantage to the Commission's program to assist in alleviating the current shortage of nuclear scientists and engineers." According to Dr. Hahn, plans are already afoot to use the nuclear accelerator, constructed by graduate students and faculty members, as a neutron source for the new exponential reactor, thus making possible more extensive fundamental and unusual reactor research. All of the nuclear facilities at Tech will have a prominent place in the Oak Ridge Symposium July 30-31 and the Short Course in Nuclear Engineering Physics to be given at Virginia Tech August 1-10. Sponsored by Virginia Tech, in cooperation with the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Atomic Energy Commission, the symposium will feature a traveling exhibit from the American Museum of Atomic Energy, a General Electric film "A Is for Atom," and a variety of symposia on nuclear topics. The short course, first and most extensive of its kind in Virginia, will have leaders from major nuclear industries as lecturers in addition to members of the faculty.](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/19560701_Techgram_TechGetsUraniumForReactor.png?resize=712%2C430&ssl=1)
According to The Techgram following their interview with Dr. T. Marshall Hahn, Jr., the sub-critical reactor was scheduled to come online in July (only six months after the approval) “because college technicians have been at work for two months machining the 32,000 pounds of reactor graphite to be used in this new facility. The exponential pile will therefore be nearing completion and will be a tour feature when Virginia Tech is host to the Eighth Oak Ridge Regional Symposium on Atomic Energy and Science in its first Virginia appearance July 30-31.”
The symposium hosted by Virginia Tech with support from the Oak Ridge Institute for Nuclear Studies (now the Oak Ridge Associated Universities – Virginia Tech has been a sponsoring institution since 1946) marked the opening of the lab. It included a short course in nuclear engineering physics, a traveling exhibit from the American Museum of Atomic Energy (now the American Museum of Science & Energy), a film from General Electric “A is for Atom”, and various symposia on nuclear topics.
Two years after the opening of the lab, in 1958, Virginia Tech was awarded a grant from the Atomic Energy Commission that allowed the institution to purchase a 10-kilowatt Argonaut (Argonne Nuclear Assembly for University Training) reactor, a class of small nuclear research reactors based on the one developed at the Argonne National Laboratory. Unlike the sub-critical reactor that was already in operation, the Argonaut was a critical reactor meaning that the nuclear chain reaction would be self-sustaining. Virginia Tech was set to be the first university in the United States to install this new type of research reactor (according to Wikipedia, it’s possible the University of Florida beat Virginia Tech into operation by about six months).
![The TECHGRAM Vol. XXXV, No. 19 July 1, 1958 Tech Gets $114,098 In Grant From AEC The Atomic Energy Commission announced June 7 that it has granted VPI an additional $114,098 in support of continued expansion and strengthening of its program in nuclear engineering. The new grant brought to a total of $350,000 the funds awarded Tech by the AEC and the maximum amount available to any academic institution from the commission. According to Dr. Thomas M. Hahn, Jr., head of Tech's department of physics, VPI is one of the first institutions in the country to receive the $350,000 limit. In addition to these funds, the AEC has made available to VPI 2,500 pounds of uranium and other special nuclear materials and equipment. The new grant will be used for the pur- chase of a 10-kilowatt Argonaut reactor which was recently developed by the AEC specifical- ly for college and university use. VPI will be the first institution in the country to install the new reactor. The Argonaut critical reactor will supplement the outstanding facilities already available for graduate nuclear engineering education here. These facilities, which have been attracting graduate students from all over the country, include a nuclear reactor simulator; two exponential reactors; a sigma pile; two accelerators; and well equipped counting, radio-chemistry, nuclear metallurgy, heat transmission, and nuclear engineering technology laboratories. Construction of a new physics building is scheduled to begin at Tech within the next few months. The U. S. Naval Development Center plans to send several of their nuclear staff members to VPI this summer for special experimental training in reactor engineering under a special contract.](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/19580701_Techgram_TechGets114098InGrantFromAEC.png?resize=712%2C558&ssl=1)
This new reactor was installed in the New Physics Building (now Robeson Hall) which was about to begin construction. It first achieved criticality in mid-December 1959 and was officially placed into operation on January 6, 1960. The occasion was marked by a dedication ceremony featuring an address by Lieutenant Governor A.E.S. Stephens. Eventually, the reactor’s operating capacity was increased from 10-kilowatts to 100-kilowatts.
![Black and white illustration of a large piece of machinery with cutouts to show interior sections. A label at the bottom reads "Figure 3-1. Reactor Assembly"](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1962Report.png?resize=712%2C544&ssl=1)
![Black and white photo of a white man in a dark suit kneeling next to an assembly of metal tubes, wires, and concrete blocks.](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1962Report-1.png?resize=712%2C487&ssl=1)
The atomic energy laboratories were expanded again in 1968 with the addition of a van de graaff accelerator. Four years later, on November 12, 1971, there was a “Nuclear Event” and Robeson Hall was evacuated. Our collections include a document called the “Appendix to Report of the Nuclear Event of November 12, 1971”. Despite searching extensively, I have not been able to locate the actual report to which this is an appendix. The document we have includes 161 pages of transcribed interviews with people involved in the event. The document has not been digitized but I’ve scanned the first few pages which include a description of the event by Ronald J. Onega. The full report is available in Special Collections and University Archives (https://catalog.lib.vt.edu/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=603347).
The scram was at 3:05, … Bill attempted to bring the sample up and all the alarms went off. … This was in Room 106 where the experiment was being carried on and the reactor console is in Room 108, so I ran over there to find out if it was serious, if it was real or to see what the situation was. The alarm went on to begin with, as well as I recall, and then it went off and then it came back on. … It was suggested that the sample be knocked loose. We could see that the sample didn’t return, so I think that Keith suggested that we try to dislodge the sample, which was the reasonable suggestion, it seemed to me at that particular time, to dislodge the sample by firing another one in. We did that and whenever we brought the sample back, it was radioactive. It was very hot and so when we discerned this I think Bob Stone went out to get a lead container to put the hot radioactive sample in, and we fired it in again as I recall. We fired this sample in twice in order to try to dislodge this and bring it back, and neither time did the original sample come back. The sample was then – the container to dislodge the original one was then taken out of the rabbit, put into the lead container, as well as the end cap for the rabbit. Bill Raymond went and got another lead container in case we could get the original sample back, and he also got another end cap for the rabbit which I think he got from Room 17 from Furr’s lab. We tried several times to bring the sample back but none of it was successful. Well, after we saw we weren’t going to get it loose, Bob Stone, Sy Meyers, Bill Raymond and myself took some survey meters and we were trying to find out exactly where this sample was hung up. The sample was hung up right at the edge of the reactor shield itself. It was in the rabbit tubing, right at the edge of the shield and whenever we discerned exactly where it was, we got a screwdriver and disconnected the tubing there, taped the end shut and also disconnected the tubing, the other end of this aluminum tube that the sample was in, and taped that end shut. I handed the tube to Bob Stone who was standing on the top of the hot cell and he lowered the tube, with the sample in the tube, down into the hot cell where it still remains. Both ends of the remaining tubing were also sealed shut. … I guess I neglected to say that sometime previous to this, the building had been evacuated. I don’t remember exactly what that time was. I estimate, Bill and I estimated, that the whole incident required, perhaps from the time the sample, from the time the building alarm went off, originally, until the sample was secured in the hot cell may have been around twenty (20) minutes. But that is as good as we can estimate. During this time I also had a pocket dosimeter on, and during the whole business I got 51 millirem of radiation. After the sample was secured, then we tried to discern exactly what the situation was and we saw that we did have a contamination problem. Furr’s lab was used to discern exactly whether fission fragments were scattered around or not, and it was discerned that they were.
“Appendix to Report of the Nuclear Event of November 12, 1971” 1971. Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech.
![JACOBS: Dr. Onega, will you give us your account of what happened both before and after the incident which occurred approximately 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon. ONEGA: Bill and I (Bill Raymond and I) were in Room 106 and the reason we were trying to do the experiment was because we were trying to measure the energy groups of the delayed neutron of 235U. That's what we were trying to do. We were trying to, previous to this, do some calibration and we had ordered some oxygen 18 and it was not really what we had ordered that came from Oak Ridge, only 8% enriched and so we were getting null results, To determine whether to order more oxygen 18, which is fairly expensive, we decided that we'd make sure that we would have enough neutrons up there in Room 106 to begin with to do the experiment before we ran into any more expense. We had previously made an estimate of the amount that we should see, however. But in any case, we were getting ready to do this and Bill Raymond said that he would have things pretty much ready whenever I got over there at 1:30 in the afternoon. Well, whenever I got over there he was going through the reactor start-up and I think he had asked Keith Furr to sign the reactor start-up form, and then I see that he did (the form was shown to me at the Radiation Safety Committee Meeting). So, he was going through the check up already and was starting up. For some reason or other the reactor, I think, scrammed down to begin with. And so, I was preparing the sample. Bill and I had talked a little bit about this beforehand so I put in approximately a gram. I think it's actually somewhat less than a gram of 235U. It's 93% enriched in 235U. We talked](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1971NuclearEvent.png?resize=712%2C921&ssl=1)
![about how long we should irradiate it for and we - what was going through my mind was to maximize the experimental situation, and since we were trying to measure the energy groups of these delayed neutrons and the longest lived group has a half life of about 55 seconds, we wanted to irradiate, to maximize or to optimize the count rates, so that meant saturating that longest group which would lead me into about a three minute irradiation time. That's how that came about. So, Bill then filled out this form, the activation data form. He was wanting that filled out, so since he had just gotten a license, I assumed that he was familiar with all the details of these things. He asked me if I would sign the paper and I thought that I was actually requesting the form, but you can see from this activation data form that I really signed the senior operator - place where the senior operator authorized him to run, is to sign. But that was unknown to me and the reason it was is because at that particular time Farouk Eltawila was in Room 106 and we were talking about a problem that had come up in one of our courses, and so Bill set this form in front of me and I signed it really without looking very closely at what I was signing. And that was the reason I signed the - I thought I was requesting the irradiation rather than doing the authorizing of the irradiation. In any case, we put the sample in for 3 minutes and tried to pull the sample out. This occurred at approximately 3:15, but we determined - but I think the activation - the log actually says - someone mentioned later to me it was 3:05, if I'm not mistaken. The scram was at 3:05, so it was actually then 3:02 when we put the sample in because it was in there for precisely three (3) minutes. After the three minutes](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1971NuclearEvent-1.png?resize=712%2C921&ssl=1)
![were up, Bill attempted to bring the sample up and all the alarms went off. He had a civil defense meter there and I suggested he check the sample, see if he could see any activity, and I ran over to the reactor room. This was in Room 106 where the experiment was being carried on and the reactor console is in Room 108, so I ran over there to find out if it was serious, if it was real or to see what the situation was. The alarm went on to begin with, as well as I recall, and then it went off and then it came back on. After I went back into 106, why it seemed to me very shortly thereafter that Bob Stone came in, and Meyers came in, and Keith came in, and Bill was in there and I was in there. It was suggested that the sample be knocked loose. We could see that the sample didn't return, so I think that Keith suggested that we try to dislodge the sample, which was the reasonable suggestion, it seemed to me at that particular time, to dislodge the sample by firing another one in. We did that and whenever we brought the sample back, it was radioactive. It was very hot and so when we discerned this I think Bob Stone went out to get a lead container to put the hot radioactive sample in, and we fired it in again as I recall. We fired this sample in twice in order to try to dislodge this and bring it back, and neither time did the original sample come back. The sample was then - the container to dislodge the original one was then taken out of the rabbit, put into the lead container, as well as the end cap for the rabbit. Bill Raymond went and got another lead container in case we could get the original sample back, and he also got another end cap for the rabbit which I think he got from Room 17 from Furr's lab. We tried several times to bring the](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1971NuclearEvent-2.png?resize=712%2C921&ssl=1)
![sample back but none of it was successful. Well, after we saw we weren't going to get it loose, Bob Stone, Sy Meyers, Bill Raymond and myself took some survey meters and we were trying to find out exactly where this sample was hung up. The sample was hung up right at the edge of the reactor shield itself. It was in the rabbit tubing, right at the edge of the shield and whenever we discerned exactly where it was, we got a screwdriver and disconnected the tubing there, taped the end shut and also disconnected the tubing, the other end of this aluminum tube that the sample was in, and taped that end shut. I handed the tube to Bob Stone who was standing on the top of the hot cell and he lowered the tube, with the sample in the tube, down into the hot cell where it still remains. Both ends of the remaining tubing were also sealed shut. At that particular time we used battleship gray tape, several layers of that, as I recall. I guess I neglected to say that sometime previous to this, the building had been evacuated. I don't remember exactly what that time was. I estimate, Bill and I estimated, that the whole incident required, perhaps from the time the sample, from the time the building alarm went off, originally, until the sample was secured in the hot cell may have been around twenty (20) minutes. But that is as good as we can estimate. During this time I also had a pocket dosimeter on, and during the whole business I got 51 millirem of radiation. After the sample was secured, then we tried to discern exactly what the situation was and we saw that we did have a contamination problem. Furr's lab was used to discern exactly whether fission fragments were scattered around or not, and it was discerned that they were. Keith had also previously called the AEC so](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1971NuclearEvent-3.png?resize=712%2C921&ssl=1)
![that the AEC had a blow by blow description of the whole situation as it was being carried on. Well, it was - the AEC decided that Raymond and I should go down to the hospital, just in case there should be any kind of radiation injected. Actually, Sy had swabbed our noses out with Q-tips to find out if we had inhaled any radiation; and I think mine was twelve times the background count and Bill Raymond's was two times the background count. Well, we went down to the hospital and that's essentially it. JACOBS: Going back even before you started the experiment, how much consideration was given to it, when was it first thought of, how much consideration was given to safety factors, how you would proceed, and how much thought was given by you and Raymond and anybody else involved, if you wish, in terms of whether this was a sufficiently new experiment so that it should have been brought to the attention of the Radiation Safety Committee before the experiment was even started? ONEGA: The experiment was conceived, I guess it's been, it must have been six or eight months ago already that the experiment was conceived and we had done quite a few preliminary calculations on - especially the amount of neutrons that we would see. In fact, most of our considerations were concerned with neutrons rather than with the gamma radiation from the fission fragments themselves. I've forgotten exactly what numbers but we felt that the experiment was within the range of feasibility for detecting the neutrons in Room 106, and as far as the actual - to my knowledge, I guess I don't recollect ever calculating the amount of fission fragments that would have been obtained from the experiment. So, our primary concern](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1971NuclearEvent-4.png?resize=712%2C921&ssl=1)
Other than that incident, the atomic energy laboratories seem to have operated smoothly under both the Physics and Mechanical Engineering departments. The Virginia Tech Argonaut Reactor (VTAR) was remodeled in 1983 with new control panels. Three years later, in 1986, it was decommissioned. It was removed from Robeson Hall in 1989.
![Students working on the Virginia Tech Argonaut Reactor being observed by an instructor, circa 1950s.](https://i0.wp.com/scuablog.lib.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1950s_Reactor.jpg?w=712&ssl=1)